Baby Plays The Banjo – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

“I’m having Justin Beiber’s baby. Really. I am. BABY PLAYS THE BANJO explores our love of the mainstream media and how it comforts us.”

Show Times:

Wed 5/30/12 – 6:00pm

Sun 6/3/12 – 10:00pm

Tues 6/5/12 – 9:00pm

Sun 6/10/12 – 8:00pm

Sat 6/16/12 – 6:30pm

Answers by Kimberly Pau
(Writer, Producer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
How did you come up with the title for your show? Kimberly: It’s about a girl who believes her baby was fathered by Justin Beiber and is thus a musical genius.

Diánna Martin’s QuestionIf you were going to invite 5 people (from the past or present) to see your show – who would you invite … and why? Kimberly: Gandhi, one of the greatest men who ever lived and it would be nice to share a laugh, Caryl Churchill, Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman for notes and Justin Beiber?… not really… I’d rather talk about music with Obama.

Antonio Minino’s QuestionWhat is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made for your art and was it worth it?Kimberly: Giving up the idea of being financially stable or having free time or vacation. I don’t really think it’s worth it, no. And also living in debt forever is pretty bad too, so no definitely a bad decision, would live like normal people if I could help myself.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s QuestionWas there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and can you share it with us?Kimberly: Well Eric Mercado (director) and I were developing this project last summer after I had written most of the script and was shooting in Estonia and he started emailing and texting me like mad with links to a story about a woman claiming to be carrying a baby Beiber so it was in the collective unconscious I guess. We thought it was pretty funny.

Michelle Augello-Page’s QuestionWhat do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?Kimberly: I recently heard Adam Curtis lecture and he said something that really moved me and summed up what I’m going for thematically with Banjo, “because all we think about is ourselves we are imprisoned by our own feelings.” So to be more specific, I hope the audience is influenced by the show’s depiction of our dependence on the American media and also on celebrities to provide an emotional and social construct for our collective behavior and the consequences of finding comfort there.